The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy by Sam Maggs

The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy

by Sam Maggs

This fun and feminist girl-power guide to the geek galaxy gives lady nerds the lowdown on everything from fanfic to cosplay to attending your first con. Fanfic, cosplay, cons, books, memes, podcasts, vlogs, OTPs and RPGs and MMOs and more-it's never been a better time to be a girl geek. The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy is the ultimate handbook for ladies living the nerdy life, a fun and feminist take on the often male-dominated world of geekdom. Author Sam Maggs brings some serious geek cred to guide readers through the in(ternets) and outs of geek culture, with tips, play-throughs, and cheat codes for everything from starting an online fan community to planning a convention visit to supporting fellow female geeks in the wild. With useful sidebars and never-before-seen interviews with geek girl icons like Felicia Day and Tamora Pierce, this book is loaded with interesting, unexpected and hard-to-find facts, all in the common language of nerdery. Best of all, the author takes a stand for geek girl empowerment, urging girls to let their freak flags fly and stand up for themselves when haters gonna hate, with chapters like Support ALL the Ladies!
Why Feminism in the Nerd World is Key and The Fake Geek Girl is Here to Destroy Everything You Love-LOL JK She Doesn't Exist. The Fangirl's Handbook is, at its heart, a celebration-of obsessing over fictional characters, finding the tribe that shares your ships and feels, rooting on other ladies to kick butt and take names, and doing it all with pride.

Reviewed by MurderByDeath on

3 of 5 stars

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I sort of low-balled the rating on this one but not because it's not a good read - it is.  It's more a reflection of my not being exactly the demographic the book is aimed at.  Yes, I am female, and yes, I am a fan of things, but I am not at the fangirl level of anything that isn't a cute furry/feathered animal or that doesn't look like Chris Hemsworth playing Thor.  Because of this, there's a large section of this book that pertains to cons, cosplay and fanfic that does not apply to me or resonate with me.   

However!  There's a lot of good stuff here and I learned a lot.  I also kept thinking that if I had a daughter (or son, actually) that was just getting old enough to pry the wi-fi password out of me, I'd make them read this book first.  The information that Maggs shares is good for everyone, but for someone new to the internet, there are vital lessons to be learned here painlessly and with humour, instead of in real life in a way that they won't soon live down.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 6 April, 2016: Finished reading
  • 6 April, 2016: Reviewed